Amendments to the island’s relationship with the European Union will not require Act of Tynwald in future, under Council of Ministers’ proposals.
But any substantive changes to Protocol 3 will still need Tynwald approval.
CoMin has begun consultation on the European Union (Amendment) Bill 2013. Its purpose is to amend the 1973 European Communities (Isle of Man) Act to include the treaty allowing Croatia to become an EU member state last month and the protocol that followed the Irish referenda on the Treaty of Lisbon.
Since 1973 there have been a number of treaties which have either amended how the European institutions work or provided for the accession of new member states. In each case, Protocol 3 has remained entirely unchanged. To amend the protocol would require the agreement of all member states.
CoMin is proposing in future it should be possible to make treaty amendments by an Order rather than requiring an Act of Tynwald, saving both parliamentary and government time. But this power would not allow for the 1973 Act to be amended as a result of any possible future substantive change to Protocol 3 which would still require an Act of Tynwald to be implemented.
